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The Godfather
The Godfather: The Game is an action-adventure video game developed and published by EA. It is the first video game in the Godfather series and based upon the 1972 film of the same name. Originally released in March 2006 for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Microsoft Windows, The Godfather has since been released for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii. A smaller variant of the game has also been published for the PlayStation Portable. Voice Acting The game is notable in that it features the return of several original actors from the original film to lend their voice. The participating actors are James Caan as Sonny Corleone, Robert Duvall as Tom Hagen, John Martino as Paulie Gatto, and Abe Vigoda as Salvatore Tessio, with the most notable absences being Marlon Brando because of his ill health and his late death, the audio producers found that the quality of the recordings were not good enough and hired an imitator (although at one point in the game, players can hear the one piece of audio that Brando recorded), John Cazale due to his death in 1978, and Al Pacino, who instead worked on Scarface: The World Is Yours. In addition, Mark Winegardner, author of the novel The Godfather Returns, provided story editing and insight into the fictional world of the Godfather. Plot The game starts in 1936 with a cutscene that shows a death scene on the father of the main character (who, for the sake of reference, is called "Aldo Trapani" here, according to the default set name) and blowing up of his bakery by the Barzinis, the Corleones' rivals in New York City. In the aftermath, Don Vito Corleone comforts the child, telling him that when he is old enough and the time is right he will have his revenge. The story then fastforwards with the 1945 wedding scene in the opening of the film, wherein Aldo's mother asks Don Corleone to look after her son, who has been hanging with the wrong crowd. Luca Brasi is sent to recruit Aldo and teach him the ways of the Mafia. From this point forward, Aldo is taken under the Corleone Family's wing and works his way up in the organization. Essentially, there are two stories in the game that intertwine, the first involving the major events of the film (with the character making central contributions) and a personal story arc. In the former, Aldo witnesses Luca Brasi's murder, plants the gun for Michael Corleone to kill Sollozzo and the police captain McCluskey, helps Rocco put the horse head in Woltz's bed, guards Don Vito Corleone at the hospital, witnesses the death of Sonny, kills significant Corleone rivals during the baptism, and appears at the meeting of the five families. In the latter storyline, Aldo befriends and later kills Corleone associate "Monk" Malone, because he turns out to be a traitor, romances his sister Frances "Frankie" Malone and takes revenge for her death, and kills Don Barzini in revenge for killing his father, as well as assisting in the murder of the heads of the other three Families. After the story missions have been completed, the character becomes an underboss. After he takes out the rival families' compounds he becomes the Don of the family. Alongside the story missions, the player continues to participate in the business of taking over control of New York from the rival families. This includes extorting businesses and buying out rackets, seizing control of warehouses, performing contract hits, and fighting mob wars when the vendetta level between the Corleones and a rival family gets high enough. Completion of a series of prerequisites to reach 91.5% enables Aldo to become Don of New York in 1955. Gameplay ameplay consists of undertaking and completing eighteen story missions while in the meantime performing various tasks such as taking over rival family holdings and carrying out contract hits. The missions are linear and follow the storyline of the first film, starting out with the player's recruitment by Luca Brasi after Connie Corleone's wedding and ending with the baptism of Michael Corleone's godchild during which the player plays an instrumental role in carrying out the killings of the rival family members. Similarly, the player also must contend with attacks from rival family members that increase in aggressiveness with the player's vendetta level, which is raised as the player attacks rival gang members and their businesses. Players can increase their character's experience points, represented in the game by a "Respect" level. This level is increased as the player finishes missions or side quests or after interacting with certain non-playable characters. Increasing respect levels allow the player to increase attributes such as health and speed, while skills include fighting, shooting and street smarts. A central part of the game is gaining control of local businesses, illegal rackets, warehouses, compounds, and transportation hubs. Each family has a controlling interest in the game's locales of Little Italy, Brooklyn, Midtown, Hell's Kitchen, and New Jersey. The player accomplishes this by threatening business/racket owners. Racket owners can also be bought out. Each business controlled generates income for the Corleone family and the player's character. Pay outs vary depending on the effectiveness of the player's tactics and is made easier with higher "Street Smart" levels. Later releases of the game allow players to take over businesses by doing favors for business owners. The player's ultimate goal is making his way through the ranks and progressing up the ladder through various titles ( from "outsider" to " The Don"). Families In the game there are five mafia families that have been adapted from the The Godfather. Each family is distinguished by its members wearing specific color coats as well as a shield bearing the family's first initial in its color with the exception of the Corleones, whose shield bears a rampant lion. Nicknamed The Five Families, these consist of: *'The Barzini Family' - The Barzini family hails from Midtown, the richest community in New York City, making them the richest and most powerful family in New York City. Their family color is green. The Barzinis are headed by the main antagonist, Don Emilio Barzini, who rules with an iron fist. He ordered the murder of the main character's father, and is rumored to be in control of another New York Family. The Barzinis' consigliere is Domenica Mazza, and their underboss is Emillio Barzini Jr. Their three caporegimes are Pietro Testa, Giovanni Armanno and Big Bobby Toro. *'The Corleone Family' - The once-powerful crime Family is based in central Manhattan, in Little Italy, and are troubled by increasingly daring raids by the Tattaglias based in Brooklyn. Little Italy has streets of moderately poor local shops run by well-established Families. Their family color is black. In the game, the player meets many members of the Corleone Family, including Vito Corleone, Sonny Corleone, Tom Hagen, Michael Corleone, Fredo Corleone, Salvatore Tessio, Pete Clemenza, Paulie Gatto, Rocco Lampone, Al Neri, Willie Cicci, Jaggy Jovino, Jimmy DeNunzio, Luca Brasi, and Marty "Monk" Malone. *'The Cuneo Family' - The Cuneo family hails from Hell's Kitchen. The Cuneo family isn't as rich as the other families, owning few rackets and businesses. Their family color is red. Don Carmine Cuneo heads the Cuneo Family. They are ruthless killers, excellent marksmen, and always appear in large groups largely due to the environment of Hell's Kitchen, which is run down and filled with poor communities. According to certain Corleone associates, Cuneos' are trustworthy unless you mess with their business. The Cuneos' consigliere is Luciano Fabbri, and their Underboss is Marco Cuneo. Their three caporegimes are Ronnie Tosca, Michael Costa, and Mario DeBellis. *'The Stracci Family' - The Stracci family is based in New Jersey. Don Victor Stracci heads the Stracci Family. During daytime the neighborhood looks quite peaceful, with fancy houses and well-groomed parks, but at night, it becomes much more dangerous. The Straccis are the most cruel and vicious family. Their family color is blue. The Straccis' consigliere is Jack Fontana, and their Underboss is Salvatore Stracci. Stracci caporegimes include Oscar Zavarelle and Leon Grossi. *'The Tattaglia Family' - The Tattaglia family dominates Brooklyn, owning almost every business and racket on the Brooklyn waterfront. The Tattaglia family has a serious rivalry with the Corleone family because of their business expansion into Little Italy, the Corleone's turf. Their family color is tan. Don Philip Tattaglia heads the Tattaglia Family, and his son Bruno is next in line to become Don of the Tattaglia Family. Bruno has an alliance with Virgil "The Turk" Sollozzo. The Tattaglias' consigliere is Freddie Nobile, and their Underbosses are Bruno and Johnny Tattaglia. The Tattaglias' caporegimes are Tony Bianchi, Luigi Fusco and Donnie Marinelli. Under Bianchi are Soldiers Mikey Saleri and Squeegie McNeese. Under Marinelli are Soldiers Luigi Bonetti and Rocky Della Barca. Versions PSP A Sony PlayStation Portable version was released, titled The Godfather: Mob Wars. Unlike the console versions, Mob Wars does not feature free-roaming environments. Instead, the game is restricted to a series of story missions involving Aldo Trapani. However, Mob Wars includes a new turn-based strategy mode with the aim of controlling all of New York City by neutralizing the rival families, completed by issuing orders and executing them as real-time missions. The portable version of the game also lacks the entire section of driving, even in the story missions, where the driving segments are replaced with cutscenes. When you complete the game you can not replay missions or mob wars. If you wish to continue playing, you will have to start over. Wii The Wii version, entitled The Godfather: Blackhand Edition, is the highest rated version of The Godfather on Gamerankings and IGN. It features 20 normal missions, ten new hit missions, a new rival family seen only in the new hit missions, rooftop battles, new favors, and other methods such as blackmail and bribery. It was developed alongside the PS3 edition and released March 20, 2007. Improved upon the Xbox 360 edition, it includes brand new controls designed for the Wii Remote. Aiming is now handled by the pointer function of the Wii Remote, and allow more locational damages, though the lock-on option is still in the game. Melee combat is handled using the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, such as swinging a baseball bat, or throwing a molotov cocktail. Once the player has taken hold of an NPC, the player may use a wide variety of hand to hand combat techniques. In total, there are 25 unique motion-based execution moves available in the game. The Wii version also reworked the crew system; unlike the 360 edition, the crew will accompany the player even after loading a saved game where a crew had been hired previously. Furthermore, players also have the ability to call in a four-man hit squad to assist the player in missions; the gauge that is needed to be recharged can be automatically refilled if they did not sustain too much damage before the last save point, allowing player to instantly call upon them. This provides player with an ability to call upon a total of five crew members at any time. The Blackhand Edition adds a second path that the player may take through the game, that of the operator. The main method of progression is by blackmailing police, the FBI or members of other families, and what the player does or says affects the outcome. While the enforcer's goal is to destroy the other families through brute force, the operator's is to blackmail the police chiefs of the five boroughs by finding enough "dirt" on them during missions. The player then blackmails the chiefs, enabling the bribe gauge to fill to the top for free every time the player talks to the chief, effectively allowing the player to take control of the police in that area. The police fight alongside the player's family members and can also arrest or kill rival family members. The path of the operator also grants the player additional tactical abilities that are not open to the enforcer, such as enhanced and regenerating health, the ability to call in the four-man hit squad twice as often, enhanced crew damages and health, ability to plant car bombs and make instant stealth kills, and reduced price on bribing on the police and FBI. PS3 The Sony PS3 version, titled''The Godfather: The Don's Edition'', worked of the Wii's interactive controlling, and utilized the SIXAXIS motion sensor controls. While the moves available are less than those available on Wii version, players can use SIXAXIS to shove people around and perform special execution moves. However, unlike the Wii, these moves are generally finishing moves and thus not always available. Additionally, the PS3 edition has two special locales, a freighter and a train yard, that serve as transportation hubs, providing a few special scenarios, as well as five new hit missions.